damseltwo

[damseltwo]

Lia had lifted Seraphic to sit on the kitchen counter so he could easily help her assemble some snacks that consisted of crackers smeared with some peanut butter and then topped with different things - slices of banana, raisins, a few topped with chocolate chips. Or, if he preferred he might have been eating some of the green grapes she had washed and put in a bowl on the counter beside him. 

Even if he had asked for cookies, or begged for them, it wouldn’t matter, they didn’t have any.

When Constantine entered the kitchen she straightened up from where she had been leaning her arms against the counter near his son. She had been smiling with him but she looked a little concerned when Constantine entered alone.

“Is... are we... can we stay... ?”

[damseltwo]

when i say “i don’t like drama” what i really mean is “i don’t want to have my own drama.” your drama, on the other hand,  

[damseltwo]

Yes, please!

I am a great cook, I play well with others, I usually speak a few languages (which can be shockingly helpful if you're playing with Anaba... Who I couldn't tag for some reason), also my story always involves my sister in some way and wouldn't you know I have never had a story where I wasn't unlucky enough to be in the middle of a robbery at some point. I bring all the accidental excitement is all I'm saying.

PSA

I am going back to bed but psa that I am actively looking for a new thread for my char Lia (usually when Lia is involved more or less the whole rest of the cast makes an appearance at some point - she’s kind of a gateway character).

Anyway she has been dead for years in my primary story (she died a noble death but she’s still annoyed about it).

Anyway, she recently got to stretch her legs a little again and now that she has shaken off the dust she just will. not. shut. up. So I need something to keep her busy.

Have some go-to starters for her depending on what time period you want.

@damseltwo

[damseltwo]

I like tall things with soft lips and sharp teeth.

[damseltwo]

One of my studies became a full fanart!!

Here you have lovely Amanda Seyfried as Cosette from ‘Les Misérables’!

[damseltwo]

As Mia spoke Lia lent to the side, shaking her head and waving her hands gently as she mouthed “No magic!”

@sovereign-cleric

[damseltwo]

Lia had settled with resignation on the sofa when he had settled in to his arm chair, more comfortable being out of his immediate reach. She smiled weakly at him, more anxious about what would happen than she was afraid of him. So far she was pleasantly surprised that every time she thought things were about to take a turn for the worse with him that it turned out not to be the case - it was confusing - but there were certainly worse things this scenario could be than confusing.

When he declared that he knew Lia was scared she opened her lips as if to say she wasn’t, but even the thought didn’t ring true and so she kept it to herself and closed her lips. She glanced toward the kitchen and then back to him - he was… he was inviting her to just continue living in his house in front of him, even if just until her sister returned? That would feel… a little awkward. Lia stood slowly, looking between him and the kitchen. Her stomach was a bit in knots, worried just as much about what Mia was going to say as she was about what this man was going to do.

Lia rested her hands on her stomach in thought, she didn’t feel like eating but she didn’t feel like arguing with him, either… maybe it would make her feel better…His question drew her out of her thoughts and she nodded, whispering, “Yes… we have the same mother anyway.”

Lia hesitated to ensure he didn’t have another immediate question before whispering “I’ll… I’ll go make something to eat…” She looked back up at him, her brows lifting, not sure what the protocol was. “Umm…. do you… want anything? We have some hard boiled eggs and cereal… and some orange juice - but not the good kind, the kind that was frozen…” She tilted her head side to side a little with a slightly wrinkled nose - she definitely had an opinion about the OJ. Surely a man of good taste like him would agree that frozen OJ was the worst…

If he didn’t ask for anything to eat she would head to the kitchen and make herself a bowl of cereal - off brand cinnamon toast crunch. She sat on a stool at the counter and took a few bites, lost in her thoughts. At first it was comfortable in the kitchen, being further away from him, but it started to feel… rude? finally she picked up her bowl and walked to the edge of the kitchen as if there was a force field, not sure how he felt about food outside of the kitchen.

She stared at him in silence, taking a bite of her cereal again, slowly chewing and finally swallowing in silence before clearing her throat to speak, “Can you make anything with your magic? Can you make… bacon?”

If he was willing to oblige her curiosity he would find that she seemed quite comfortable to sit across the counter from him, or across a table, even the coffee table. As long as there was some barrier that felt like it would slow him down… even if she suspected it wouldn’t really. She’d ask him if he could conjure different things - flowers? what about a kitten? when he conjured tea, what kind of tea was it? And if he was humoring her, she’d ask again… could anyone do magic?

Lia heard Mia’s old car pulling up outside after about 30 minutes and lent in toward him for a moment, closer than she had so far, whispering urgently, “You can’t do any of this magic in front of Mia… she’ll think it’s the devil’s work for sure…” Both her tone and gaze were earnest - she was in no way exaggerating, it seemed. But why would she be concerned about him scaring Mia off unless she had made up her own mind that she wanted to stay - or at least she didn’t want to burn bridges with him as she was afraid Mia would do if she saw any hint of these magic stuff..

[damseltwo]

“If you have been brutally broken, but still have the courage to be gentle to others then you deserve a love deeper than the ocean itself.”

— Nikita Gill (via quotemadness)

[damseltwo]

[damseltwo]

Oh good! I think I got almost all of these! My blog is so shiny and pretty!

tumblr theme elements that make you go to hell

a billion glitter graphics 

can’t see the post description

can’t see who you reblogged from

your URL redirects to some bullshit tag where you post marshmallows and pictures of fields or whatever and i gotta go up to the URL bar and type in a forward slash so i can see your fuckin posts

can’t see your FUCKIN next page button

text i can only imagine is for ANTS and when i try to zoom in one of your 10 million glitter graphics gets huge and covers up half the page and i still cant see shit

red text on black background 

your theme is heavily animated and every time i try to click one of your fancy buttons it goes flying across the page and i end up clicking on your “pics of my body sores” link or something 

[damseltwo]

Flesh and Blood

[damseltwo]

to quote the icon that is john mulaney: “i have had a very long day, i am very small and i have no money so you can imagine the kind of stress i am under”

[damseltwo]

Lia was listening intently to his answer and he’d see her slowly mouth the word “magic” after he had finished speaking, as if saying it to herself. Her mouth had opened again just a little as if maybe there was another thought forming but before it could come to maturity he was gesturing to her phone and her thoughts diverted back to that call she had to make… 

Lia flipped open the phone at his urging and started to press the buttons slowly, her mind trying to come up with a way to stall, if only because the sooner Mia found out, the sooner they would be back in the car - no more bed, no more hot showers… no, surely she could think of a way to salvage this, a solution that didn’t involve Mia insisting that they leave as she was sure to do, her gaze darted side to side, her fingers typing in the numbers with muscle memory… but before she was able to come up with any reason to postpone further he was urging her again to not make him wait. Lia's gaze slowed and then lifted back to his face and she paled a little as she hit the “call” button.

The phone rang for a long time while Lia's eyes drifted slightly up and to the right as she tried to think of what fibs she might need to have ready if Mia had rapid-fire questions, she had been in the kitchen, yes, definitely, if she had to give a specific, that was where she would say she had been...

It was clear enough that the young woman on the other end of the line was speaking in almost a whisper - taking a call at work, whatever she was doing, was likely frowned on.

“No, I’m ok… But….. but yes… it’s… it’s a bit of an emergency. The… The homeowner is here. I’m sorry, Mia, I didn’t hear them come in…” There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment while Lia imagined her sister having a heart attack, when Mia didn’t immediately have a response Lia added quietly. “They’re… they have been very nice. They aren’t going to call the police, but, they want you to come back, to talk to you.” No matter how much Mia wanted to yell and scream and curse she was throttled by her surroundings and so there was only a short silence before she felt able to speak again in a measured tone and might have barely been heard to reply, as if totally calm about this turn of events, “Yes, of course they do. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but Lia, if you don’t feel safe, leave, just run…” Lia smiled weakly at the idea - she didn’t feel particularly safe there alone with him and his magic, and yet she suspected that running away would not be a very effective method of escaping such a man… but still, with grand and dismissive gesturing of her free hand - another indication that she was fibbing at least a little - she reassured her sister on the other end of the line, “No, nothing like that, Mia. I promise I will… but, but it’s okay. I’m okay. They’re really very…. kind. I’ll see you soon.”

To be fair, Constantine hadn’t been anything but kind so far but Lia wasn’t sure he’d shown his true colors yet - anyone could seem kind for 10 minutes. Indeed, she had enough experience with that to have already written her thesis on it even though she’d barely started high school, it might have been titled “Men and their ability to feign kindness” followed by related papers on “Mothers and their (in)ability to prioritize what is important” and “Older Sisters: Sometimes They Aren’t Just Paranoid” Lia lowered the phone, staring at it in her hand for a moment before she curled her fingers to flip the top down. She gasped slightly when she lifted her gaze again and realized that he was close enough to touch her and indeed, there was his pale hand reaching for her... Her face for a moment was the perfect reflection of betrayal. Lia froze, staring up at him as she gauged the grip of his hand on her shoulder, but both her face and shoulders relaxed as she realized he was only resting his hand there to guide her to the sofa. 

She followed his urging and sat in the middle of the sofa, it would give her the most room to move if he sat beside her - though she hoped he returned to his arm chair... Her hands lowered to hold the phone between her knees, her shoulders slouched forward a little. She looked pensive and to be honest that wasn’t a natural look for her. But what does one talk about with someone in this situation? The very situation her sister had been training her to be able to avoid for the last two years and yet here she was…

“…. you um…. you have a very nice house, Sir…. “ She was quiet for a moment but her jaw was tense, as if it was poised, ready to spill out the words once that thought from before finally came to term, and finally her mouth sealed and she took a deep breath through her nose before speaking quickly “Can anyone learn to do magic, or are you… special?” She didn’t really look afraid - especially if he’d returned to the comfortable distance of his arm chair - though perhaps a little anxious.

[damseltwo]

As he offered her tea she shook her head in silence, eyes wide for a moment before she shut them and brought both hands up to rub her eyes - more confounded than afraid.

As he stood she jumped slightly, drawing her danging right leg up onto the bed and shifted toward the middle of the foot board - it was the first time he had moved toward her rather than away and she held her breath, only half hearing what he was saying until he had left the room and shut the door and she started to process his words.

She remained there on the bed for several minutes, trying to think of what to do - she could go back to bed and this all might turn out to have been entirely imagined, or perhaps he was real and she should go out the window to escape as she had been told to do if she heard someone enter but it seemed a little late for that… Well, if he was real, he had told her already what he wanted her to do and so, after a few minutes, she climbed off the bed and changed in to her light wash jeans with some wear on the knees that wasn’t drastic enough to be the fashionable type and then her white camisole and finally a light pink short sleeved button down shirt - only the bottom button was missing and it was long enough that it wasn’t terribly noticeable.

When she came down her sock-clad feet made little noise on the stairs, her pink sneakers hanging from the fingers of her left hand. She had even taken a moment to brush the braid from her hair and pull her hair back in to a ponytail at the center of the back of her head.

Before entering the living room she set her shoes down on the wooden floor of the foyer, standing so that the sofa was between the two of them, her shoulders tense again, unsure of what he intended to do - though all in all her being dressed and them not being in the bedroom did seem like a turn for the better… right?

Lia held up both her hands for a second - as if he might be as suspicious of her movements as she was of his - before reaching one slowly for her pocket and pulling the flip phone out and opening it slowly. “Mia won’t be pleased with me calling her back from work, but then I imagine she won’t be pleased for me to call and tell her that you found me asleep in bed work or no…” she let her voice trail off a moment, her gaze lifting from the phone to him, “… actually, if it is all the same to you, maybe we can leave that last part out entirely…?”

She held the phone in her hands, looking down at it again in silence for a moment before speaking without lifting her gaze at first, “C-C-C-Can can can” She hadn’t seemed to have any speech impediments before but she seemed to be having trouble forcing this phrase out “can I ask a- a- a- a- question?”

She really wasn’t sure if she hoped his answer was affirmative or negative because the question just seemed so ridiculous… it hardly seemed worth asking… but if he granted her permission she’d look up from the phone to him finally, “Are things really appearing and disappearing? The… the chair and the tea and the table and… Are you…. are you doing that? Is that real?”

[damseltwo]

an authority figure: [expresses slight, arguable disappointment in me]

me, shaking: Wow. Can’t Believe I’m The Worst Person Alive

[damseltwo]

Lia firmly pressed her lips together as he pressed again for why she had broken in and she was still trying to think of a way to phrase her answer without incriminating anyone when he sat back in to the armchair that hadn’t been there a moment ago - she was *sure* of it. She jumped from the edge of the bed to her feet, her eyes wide with questions but then he complimented her housekeeping and in the snap of a finger her expression changed - she did like to be complimented. Her shoulders relaxed and her head lifted, eyes and jaw line softening.

Her lips curled in to a big grin - maybe she could convince him to let them clean his house or do the cooking or something in trade for their board, she’d heard of such arrangements and didn’t understand why Mia hadn’t pursued them more - really, her sister seemed to be missing out on a great opportunity there!

But just like that the mention of Emilia not being happy she frowned seriously, her brows drawing together - she didn’t know Emilia but of course she didn’t want anyone unhappy with them in general or with her in particular and already just the idea of it bothered her. She looked for a moment like she might speak but then he signed and she shrank a little. Her weight leant back on her heels, head bowing slightly as her eyes shifted toward the floor - which reminded her that there was a chair that had come from nowhere and her brows knit again as she strained to remember for certain that that chair hadn’t been there before... 

At the mention of the clocks she paled a little, whispering “...Oh....”

For a man who spoke so little his words certainly took her on an emotional roller coaster.

She jumped slightly - away from the door and a half step in his direction - turning to look at the door as the clocks in the house started to chime. She wanted to question him, about the tea cup, about the chair, about the clocks... even about Emilia, but then his questions started and she remembered that she was the one on trial here. 

She stood frozen for a moment, staring at him, appraising him... he was bigger and stronger than she was - as most people were - but he’d made no aggressive moves, showed no violent anger and so with a deep breath she slowly stepped to stand next to the foot of the bed before drawing her left knee up and on to the bed to sit with her right leg dangling off the side, the decorative footboard of the bed between them.

“Lia... my name is Lia. My sister broke in... she said... she said you were probably gone for the season and that we might be able to sleep here safely during the summer, instead of staying in the car... it gets very hot in the car, so you have to sleep with the windows open but that isn’t safe, someone might reach in and steal something or unlock the door to get in so then you have to roll up the windows....” Her eyes had trailed off to the side as if she were remembering something specific even as she spoke in generalities, but then her gaze returned to his face and she stopped for a moment, trying to remember the question, “...anyway... my sister, she thought this would be a better place to stay, especially if we could leave it even cleaner than we found it for whoever owned it - that you’d never know we had been here and we’d save you the cleaning... it would be like doing a good deed you didn’t even realize you’d done and aren’t those the best kind, the ones that were so easy you hardly realized you’d done anything but still helped someone else so much? It really is so much better here, in a house, in a bed... with a kitchen... we can cook, and keep perishables in the fridge, it saves her so much money on groceries and we eat better... and the bathroom...” Her eyes lit up a little and she leaned forward in to the foot board slightly as if they were sharing a joke, “...The bathroom here is beautiful... and it’s so easy to wash our hair... you have nice long hair, too... have you ever tried to wash your hair in a sink? It’s a mess!” She smiled cautiously, carefully observing his expression and desperately hoping for him to be amused.

[damseltwo]

there’s a mirror right above our kitchen sink and that’s dangerous because instead of doing dishes i’ll just stare at myself in the mirror for twenty full minutes thinking about how hot i am